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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29106618">GreedFall: Destiny</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/anjoe/pseuds/anjoe'>anjoe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>GreedFall (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action &amp; Romance, F/M, Friendship/Love, Slow Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 14:15:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,751</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29106618</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/anjoe/pseuds/anjoe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt has been by Constantin D'Orsay and Elaine De Sardet's sides as master-at-arms and bodyguard since their earliest childhood. When his charges are sent to the new world of Teer Fradee, he accompanies them, which should change all their lives. Plays from De Sardet's childhood and describes some events in Sérène's time up to the events of the game.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kurt/De Sardet (GreedFall)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>GreedFall: Destiny</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a translation of my work already posted in German, as the English-speaking fan community seems much larger. Since English is not my native language, please excuse any bumpy sounding sentences and feel free to give feedback.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Get up."</p>
<p>The girl in front of him struggled to her feet somewhat awkwardly, gripped the pommel of the wooden sword tightly and pointed it at him. She shifted her weight to her front leg, took her attack stance. Her dark eyes glittered wickedly at him as she tried to control her heavy breathing.</p>
<p>The midday sun shone down on them relentlessly and he felt the warmth of the heated earth through his boots. De Sardet's cheeks glowed with heat beneath a layer of smeared dust. A few strands of hair had come loose from her braid and were sticking to her forehead.</p>
<p>Kurt had to stifle a grin at the sight. Her anger amused him, being in contrast to her other appearance. Elaine was no longer the little girl that he had started to train almost five years ago. She had grown taller and reached almost to his shoulder. Still, her features had not lost their childishness and her body still looked gangly. Kurt had trained so many recruits her age, he became uncomfortably aware, and they all still had that awkwardness about them, too, as if their arms and legs had grown too fast. He shook off the thought.</p>
<p>"Let's do it again from the top. Watch your footwork. Don't turn your whole upper body into the swing like that, your back provides an ideal attack surface if you're not fast enough. The sword in your hand is not actually wielded as a two-handed sword. The strength must come from your arms," he instructed her as he took his starting position. He looked to her expectantly. Had it been too soon to train with a new sword? It didn't seem to have caused her such problems the last few days....<br/>Elaine took another deep breath, straightened her shoulders and attacked. Deftly, he took a step backward and dodged her blow. She had again turned her upper body too much into the blow, so that her side and back were facing him. He gave her a rude shove in the side, and with a pressed groan she fell to her knees.</p>
<p>This time he couldn't help himself, and laughed out.</p>
<p>"Come on, Green Blood... I know you can do better, this isn't your first day today! At least try to stay on your feet." </p>
<p>Angry and panting, she looked up at him behind her. With a quick spinning motion, she grabbed the sword from the ground with one hand and jumped the few steps towards him, slashing at him. Stunned by her sudden fury and strength, he parried the first blows. Then he took a quick step to the side, and Elaine's blow came to nothing. Surprised by the lack of resistance, she lurched forward, lost her balance, and fell to her knees. Dust swirled up and lingered in the air.</p>
<p>With the sleeve of his shirt, he wiped the sweat from his face and waited for her to stand up again. He frowned. It wasn't like her to be so guided by her emotions when training with him. Rarely had he seen her so angry and agitated, and that had been childish anger at the beginning of their training. He knew she could do far better and they were long past that stage of training. </p>
<p>Instead, he now saw her bury her hands in the hot earth and clench them into fists, her body leaning forward tensely. </p>
<p>Uncertainly, he looked at her crouching on the earth and lowered his wooden sword. I wonder if he had gone too far today. </p>
<p>"Green Blood?" He stepped cautiously toward her.</p>
<p>"Nothing," she pressed out, turning her head away from him, "it's just hot..." </p>
<p>"I know that's not the reason. What's wrong?" He squatted down beside her and gently placed his hand on her back. He felt her body tense under his hand and begin to tremble.</p>
<p>After a while she straightened up, sat on her lower legs and pulled her limp arms with her. Dusty earth trickled from her hands. </p>
<p>"I don't want to leave here," she finally pressed out. Her eyes were tear-filled, avoiding his gaze.</p>
<p>Puzzled, he looked at her.</p>
<p>"What, why would you leave?" he asked in honest amazement. He almost started laughing again.</p>
<p>Ashamed, she kept her eyes lowered. "I heard my uncle talking to Sir De Courcillion about it..." she murmured, her voice almost breaking at the end. "I am to go to Thélème and the Bridge Alliance states and study at the courts there. It would be long past time..."</p>
<p>He sighed, not knowing what to say. So that was what it was all about. He had no information about her leaving the court, however, it was quite common to teach young women the labels and studies in other courts of the nations and introduce them to the society. An uncomfortable tug prepared in his stomach at these thoughts of what this meant. </p>
<p>With a low groan, he sat down next to her on the warm earth. This, at least, was not how he had imagined today's training. He could talk to young recruits and try to ease their fear of their first fight. However, he was not prepared for the worries of noble adolescent ladies.</p>
<p>"Sometimes..." he began quietly, looking up at the bright sky, "we have to do things that are required of us, even if we don't like them. Simply because they are expected of us as our duty. And that just can be very frustrating sometimes." He hoped it made some kind of sense to her and looked at her.</p>
<p>She snorted softly. "Like you did when you became our master-at-arms?" she retorted defiantly, pulling her legs forward and drawing her knees to her chest. </p>
<p>"What makes you think that?"</p>
<p>"Before you were assigned to us, you were a good soldier. Didn't that frustrate you, then to become our overseer and perish here at the palace?" She almost spat out the last words.</p>
<p>Anger flared in him at her words and stubbornness, but he immediately tried to suppress it. She wasn't herself today, he reassured himself. She was just lashing out, taking her anger out on him because he was now the one here with her. </p>
<p>Still, her words made him wonder. It certainly wasn't what he had expected in his life as a soldier. It had ultimately filled him with a certain pride at the time to have been chosen for the task, and even after the recent battles, it was a welcome change at the time to come to rest. But that in return he would actually spend so much time at the palace at the expense of his comradeships was something he had not realized at the time, and a slight regret came over him. Here in the palace, he was always seen and treated as who he ultimately was: a mercenary whose loyalty and services were to the one from whom the money flowed. With the exception of his offspring, he admitted to himself, which actually had something comforting about it. Many of his comrades, on the other hand, considered him "something better" because he spent most of his time in the palace and usually only stayed with them in the barracks in the evenings. At first this hadn't been so bad, but over time he had noticed how their lives drifted apart and he visibly felt somewhat marginalized. Not really belonging to anyone, he thought bitterly.</p>
<p>"No, not that," he finally said, "but as I've gotten older and been tasked with killing people because it was my duty, I've struggled with myself, too."</p>
<p>She turned to him at last, feeling her gaze slide over his face and scars.</p>
<p>"What did you do then?" she asked, noticeably calmer now.</p>
<p>"Accepted my fate as a soldier."</p>
<p>She snorted again and turned her gaze back to the ground, visibly disappointed by his answer.</p>
<p>"It's just," she began quietly, "I had hoped that if I tried hard enough in training with you and always listened to Sir De Courcillon and learned, maybe I wouldn't end up being treated like all the other girls. In their silly dresses and posturing..." Lost in thought, she stroked her strange, branching birthmark on her cheek. "I just don't belong with them."</p>
<p>He understood that all too well.</p>
<p>"Listen Green Blood, I don't know too much about these things. What I do know is that you're way too good to let something like that get you down. And maybe you'll like it in the other courts, too? You'll experience things you wouldn't here, see other nations, and learn so many new things. It can be a great time, too. Although I must admit," he added with a smile after a brief pause, "that I hate to let my best student go." </p>
<p>Uncertainly, she looked at him.</p>
<p>"Do you really think so?"</p>
<p>"I wouldn't say it if I didn't. But don't tell your cousin." He nudged her lightly with his shoulder "Afterwards he won't even bother."</p>
<p>She smiled wistfully and looked up. For a while they sat in silence, watching the thin clouds in the sky pass gently overhead. </p>
<p>He had said it at first just to cheer her up. Now that he had said it, he realized how true his words were: a melancholy came over him at the thought of her leaving. She was a year younger than Constantin, yet she was far more skilled with a sword and in sparring than he was. He had trained few recruits who had the ambition and talent she had for her age. And now you know why, he thought grimly. Only Constantin was superior to her in strength, but that was still much due to the fact that she was still a skinny adolescent. He wondered if her training would continue when she returned to Sérène....</p>
<p>"Very well..." she then murmured, snapping him out of his thoughts, "I think I know what I have to do now..."</p>
<p>"And that would be?"</p>
<p>She hesitated for a moment and looked at him.</p>
<p>"Accept my fate."</p>
<p>He laughed softly and patted her knee.</p>
<p>"There, enough of that. Take your sword, we really need to work on your footwork today."</p>
<p>They stood up. De Sardet patted the dust off her clothes, brushed her hair out of her face, and took her stance. This was starting to look more like the girl he knew, he smiled, relieved to have the issue seemingly settled now. For now, at least. </p>
<p>"So, let's start over."</p>
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